If you’re like most skaters in the U.S.A., it’s been quite some time since you’ve been on the ice.
These weeks of self-isolating and social distancing have us missing our frozen home like crazy! Hopefully you’ve been putting your skates on every so often to help preserve the fit, but even with having your skates on regularly your feet can change with extended time off the ice. After an injury, a vacation, or being an adult skater coming back to the ice, we find that we need to sort of talk your feet into how skates are supposed to fit because believe it or not they forget!
So if you put your skates on and they feel a little funny, here’s how to tell if you’ve grown out of them or if it’s just skate withdrawal.
1. Grab Your Insole!
”Insole” is the name for the cushiony footprint under your foot at the bottom of your skate. Unlace your skate and open the throat of the skate by pulling the tongue forward. Insoles usually come out pretty easily by using your finger to pull them up just behind the arch. If it gives you trouble, using a capped pen, flat head screwdriver, or other blunt tool can help pry it out. Don’t tear the lining!
2. Step On It!
At this part, do one foot at a time. With bare feet or your skate socks, align your foot with the insole. Be sure to get your heel all the way back and nestled just right with the edge of the insole. It’s helpful to have another person looking at this part because it’s hard to bend and see the back of your foot!
Once your heel is in place, align the inside of your big toe with the inside edge of the insole. Make sure your toes are flat and not curled up! Now, keep your weight at your heels/the back of your arch and look forward at your toes WITHOUT bending at the waist. When you lean forward and your weight shifts forward you can get a false reading! If leaning forward like this is a challenge, use your phone and take a photo while standing straight up.
3. Evaluate the Fit!
Check out how your foot looks on top of the insole. You should have a little bit of space in front of your toes when they’re relaxed. It’s normal to have your little toe and the fourth toe close to the edge of the insole or completely off the edge. Signs your skates are not the right fit include very little space at the toe, zero space at the toe and having your toes hang over the front edge, and the third toe hanging off the side of the insole.
See here only 1/2 of Claire’s 4th toe is at the edge of the insole.
4. Call Your Friendly Neighborhood Skate Tech For Verification and Adjustments!
If you can’t have help positioning your foot, or if you’re not sure you’re reading your insole right, call us for help! We want you to be comfortable in your skates so that you enjoy skating! Also, if your fit doesn’t look so good on the insole, don’t panic just yet. Call us first and ask about comfort adjustments. If your foot has changed width-wise but not length-wise there may be hope! We have several tips and tricks that we can try to get a little more time out of your skates if the fit is snug, but not too small.
Too small length-wise as pictured here- it’s time for new skates!
Taking the time to self-check the fit of your skates can prevent nasty surprises when you get all excited for the first practice after quarantine only to find that your skates are too small! Follow these steps and contact us if you need help. If your skates are truly too small, email claire@skatersedgewny.com to get on our scheduling list for fitting appointments! We will soon be able to have customers in the store again and we want to be ready to adjust your skates to be more comfortable, or help you find your next pair of skates.
The Skater’s Edge is Buffalo and Western New York’s one-stop figure skating store for new and used ice skates, competitive figure skates, and skate sharpening. The skate shop carries Riedell, Jackson, and Edea skates, as well as skating apparel and accessories. With technicians trained by a master sharpener of over 30 years, trust The Skater’s Edge with your next figure skate fitting, figure skate sharpening, hockey skate sharpening or hockey skate repair, as well as shaping your hockey blade radius or profiling.